Coping Strategies in Response to Rising Food Prices: Evidence from India. Report Summary.

摘要

This study examines how households in India coped with rising domestic food prices that accompanied global price patterns. Given widespread and chronic malnutrition in India, the response of Indian households to rising food prices is of particular concern. Cereal prices in India surged during and after the period of the 2008 global food price crisis due to developments in Indias domestic market, as well as the runup in world prices. Certain large regions in India consume either rice or wheat as the staple food, but not both. Because the increase in rice prices was large relative to the increase in wheat prices, the Indian setting provides an opportunity to compare both food and nonfood responses between the two regions and isolate household coping strategies in response to the rising food staple prices.